


Boys Workin' On Empty

by asleepygay



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Mild Language, Songfic, and also, and assorted camp kiddos, based on a hozier song, its all okay in the end, note: hE GETS BETTER, so i guess, sure, thats the plot, this takes place when nico is like 18, yes okay major character death but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-03-31 01:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3958699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asleepygay/pseuds/asleepygay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico di Angelo is dead. Will has no idea what to do with himself. </p>
<p>Nico, on the other hand, knows <em>exactly</em> what to do with himself, and it does not involve staying in the Underworld.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya, so I was listening to Work Song like damn this is a good song and, like everything else in my life, solangelo must be applied. So here we go. This will probably be four chapters, five max, and I'll update every other day or so, probably around this time(5pm est). Chapters will also get lots longer after this one.
> 
> No beta was used, so all mistakes are my bad. Hope y'all enjoy.

_When my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold dark earth..._

. . . 

_Will looked up from cutting bandages as he heard Kayla approach. She looked nervous, and Will prepared himself to hear about some gruesome injuries that they needed him for -- some satyr had found no fewer than four demigods at a middle school in upstate New York who were attracting monsters from every corner of the Earth. The camp had sent a tougher extraction team than usual, consisting of a satyr, a daughter of Hermes with a gift for finding the right roads, and the three best fighters in camp at the moment -- two children of Ares and Nico. Will had been a wreck all week, throwing himself into his work could keep his mind off of Nico fighting for his life and trying to protect four kids at the same time. He tried to be rational with himself as he looked at Kayla with an eyebrow raised. It was probably one of the kids. Some scared twelve year old got in the way and got hurt. Will started going over what he would most likely need in his head. But there was something off about the situation. Kayla was a skilled healer and very professional, and really they dealt with this kind of thing all the time. Sure, it was tragic, but she shouldn't look so distressed. And there was something else in her eyes that Will didn't understand, didn't want to._

_Something was wrong._

_She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and shattered Will’s world with two words._

_“It’s Nico.”_

* * *

Nico woke up in his bed in his room at his father’s palace and looked around, confused. What was he doing here? He thought about it, but his last memories were of camp, the smell of grass and strawberries and the sounds of swords clashing and kids laughing. No, wait, there was more… a quest? No, a mission. Those kids in New York were in trouble. He volunteered, of course he did, and it was going fine, just like he told Will it would a thousand times. Will… as he thought the name he remembered flashes of something else, panic, his boyfriend yelling orders at people in the room then turning to him and begging him to wake up, to be okay… wake up? _Be okay?_ He was okay, wasn't he?

Oh gods. He _wasn’t._

There had been an accident. There were monsters everywhere, Nico and the others had been fighting for their lives, for the lives of four scared kids. The satyrs were guarding them, playing tunes on reed pipes to confuse the monsters but something went wrong. One of them, some lion/bull hybrid, had gotten too confused, bucked its horned head, and charged the kids. Nico had jumped in front. he killed it, he thinks, but not before it reached him… horrified, Nico looked down. His body was there, he wasn't quite a ghost, but it wasn't _all_ there either. His limbs seemed smoky in some angles and his skin was devoid almost completely of color. No. _No._ He remembered now, he killed the weird monster and the others had killed the remaining few monsters but everyone knew more would come, they didn't have any time, so Nico told everyone to grab hold of each other and he shadow travelled them out. They came out of the shadows at Half-Blood Hill, they had made it, he couldn’t be dead. But then… he also remembered pain, more than he had felt since Tartarus, and he remembered drifting in and out of consciousness in the infirmary, hearing chanting and feeling hands flying over his broken body and opening his eyes once or twice to see those hands and following them up to the pale but otherwise stern and determined face of Will. Looking into that face he couldn't believe WIll wouldn’t fix him, until he looked up further and saw the panic set in Will’s eyes. Maybe he couldn't have been fixed. Maybe Will never stood a chance.

_Will._

Will would be a wreck right now. Hell, _Nico_ was a wreck right now. How could he do that to Will? Will, who had worked so hard, who had helped Nico see his own worth, who had saved him too many times and in too many ways to count, who had understood him and loved him more than anyone else ever would. And, honestly, who needed Nico. Will was an amazing healer, but he wasn't a fighter. If something happened Will would never be able to protect himself and Nico would never trust anyone else to. And now he was alone. And Nico would never see him again.

Yeah, _fuck that._

Nico was suddenly furious. He couldn't be dead. He wouldn't be dead. Nico had never feared death and he understood its importance, he understood that everyone had to die sometime. It was why he hadn't stopped Octavian all those years ago. He had felt that it was right –- everyone’s time came eventually and Nico had known instinctively that letting Octavian’s time be then would push back the times of dozens of people, prolonging innocent life. Life had a balance and death was crucial to that balance. 

And that was all well and good and whatever, but Nico was the son of Hades. Nico was the Ghost King. A title he had claimed when he was only eleven to protect his friends, but ever since then word had spread and the dead took that word seriously and treated him as such. So he didn't really care if coming back made him the ultimate hypocrite. He wasn't ready to die. He had a lot to live for and people who he loved and needed and who loved and needed him and he wasn't going to leave them. He wasn't going to leave _him._ Nico was the son of Hades, the Ghost King, and as far as he was concerned, death could bow to him or it could fucking bite him. He went to find his father.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it continues. I really liked the development of Nico's relationship with Hades in the last couple books and I figure after a few years they get better, mostly because Nico is amazing and totally earned and deserves a happy family dynamic so I wrote that up for him, which I hope you guys are as excited about as I was when I wrote it. Female pronouns start showing up in the lyrics I put at the start of every chapter, and I'm obviously referring to Will, who is in fact a boy, but I left them as they are because I felt like it, but y'all know what they are there to convey
> 
> Also, a very special thank you to those of you who commented and left kudos, you're the best. Chapter 3 is almost done!
> 
> And finally, as usual, I didn't get a beta for this so if there are mistakes they're 100% my bad

_No grave can hold my body down, I'll crawl home to her..._

. . .

_Will stared blankly at the smoke curling into the sky. Hazel stood in front of the burning shroud, looking through teary eyes at the assembled crowd as she read off a speech that Will didn’t hear. The whole camp was here, even some other kids from Camp Jupiter came, but Will didn't see them. He was lost in his head, replaying choppy memories of Nico, broken and bleeding and unconscious, being brought into the infirmary. Will had spent four hours working over him, trying everything he could, but there wasn't enough time. There was never going to be. Nico was lost the instant he jumped in front of those kids and now they were here and he wasn't and Will couldn’t even be mad at him for doing something so reckless because he sacrificed himself to save four fucking kids without even thinking because he was a hero. More than any of them were. And Will knew the second he laid eyes on Nico that nothing could save him but he tried his hardest anyway and that somehow made it so much worse when Nico died. They'd had to drag Will out, and when he said he wanted to be alone they told him to take a walk, clear his head and calm down. And he really had tried, but everywhere he went reminded him of Nico. Will walked all night and at some point he started to cry, and he cried until he couldn't anymore, he cried until he was too tired to sleep, so he kept walking. He spent all night walking and thinking until he could barely even do that anymore and it was morning and it was time for Nico’s funeral and Hazel had flown in and that was nice of her, Will supposed, but he wasn't really thinking about that. By the time he walked to the ceremony in the amphitheater that morning the only thoughts in his head were ‘my fault’ and ‘what if’. And they still were. ‘My fault’. ‘What if’. But it didn't matter what if. Nico was gone. Nothing mattered._

* * *

Hades was sitting in his throne on a grand balcony overlooking Persephone's garden, staring wistfully at the fields of asphodel beyond the palace walls. Nico cleared his throat and bowed when the god turned to face him. The wistful look in Hades' eyes deepened into almost sadness, and Nico wouldn't have needed three tries to guess what the god was thinking about. 

"My son." Hades beckoned Nico to stand in front of his throne. 

"Father." Nico knelt before his father, but to his surprise he was quickly called to his feet. 

"Rise my boy. We have things to discuss. I very much regret your death-" Nico failed to completely hide a snort that Hades graciously ignored, "-but I have decided not to dwell on it. I have instead decided that it should be grounds to honor you with a position you have earned many times over. Any position you like. I invite you to lead my guard, or command my army, or become my lieutenant. You are still my only mortal son, however now you may take the eternity granted to you and do with it what you want. Despite my original conceptions of you, you have proven yourself repeatedly and it is my belief that you have earned a position of honor in my personal guard to continue working with your military strengths." Nico was stunned enough at this point, but Hades continued after a brief pause to say, "Although, if you wish it, you may retire to a blissful afterlife. I have no doubt you will be judged worthy of Elysium, and I would be willing to grant you access straight to the Isles of the Blessed, no rebirths necessary, if that is what you wish."

Nico was dumbstruck. He had snorted originally because ‘ _I regret your death_ ’ wasn't the most charming sentiment a father could say to his dead son, and only in his family would such a weird conversation even be happening, but now he just didn't know what to say. Considering the more than rocky start to his relationship with his father, he never expected this. Sure they had gotten a lot better, Hades had even tried to make his room in the palace as comfortable as possible in case Nico ever wanted to visit, or died, Nico supposed, which had been a surprisingly nice gesture from the god. Yeah, if Nico was surprised when his father put in a celestial bronze TV and a couple beanbags he didn't even know what to call what was going on internally right now. It was unfortunate then, in some morbid way, that he wasn't going to get to enjoy the offer considering he had no intention to stay here. 

When he finally got his brain working again, or whatever spiritual version of it was floating around in his ghostly head, he stammered out, "Th-thank you, father. But, uh, I can't accept your offer. Any of them." Hades’ face froze and Nico rushed to explain before the god chose to smite him instead, "I'm not staying here. I don't want to be reborn, but I'm not going to stay dead. I have things to live for and I shouldn't have died yet. I want you to send me back."

"It cannot be done!" Hades said, growing agitated, though there was a strange sadness behind his eyes that Nico felt like he recognized but couldn't remember from what. "I cannot cheat death. I cannot allow the laws of death to be broken for anyone."

"But I'm your son!" Nico protested. 

"And it is for that reason that I especially can't break the laws of death for you! I can't allow it under any circumstances but more than anything I cannot play favorites, especially for my own children." The sadness became more pronounced, sadness and grief and an old anger, and Nico understood. He had seen that look in a vision of the past, right after Zeus killed his mother. The Fury Alecto had said almost those exact words to Hades when he tried to bring her back seventy years ago. Nico wondered if maybe that was why Hades had offered him so many things. He had loved Maria, had offered to build her a palace by the Styx so they could raise their children together in safety and peace. Then he had watched Maria die, and then one of his children sixty years later despite his measures to protect her. And now he was looking at the last child of the family that almost was, the last remaining part of Maria di Angelo, standing before him on misty feet, barely more solid than the shades wandering the fields of Asphodel, banished by death from ever seeing the sun again. Hades had lost everything once more and, bound by ancient laws he was forced to agree to, all he could do was offer his last son from a seventy year old dream an honorable or comfortable afterlife. Nico gained a lot of perspective in those few moments of realization, but all they did was further strengthen his resolve. 

"Fine. I understand. Now you understand me. I'm. Going. Back. Don't give me your help, don't even give me your blessing for all I care, but I'm not staying here. There are people alive right now who need me and there's fuck all I can do for them from down here. I'm going to die one day, I get that, but that day isn't today. Or yesterday or the day before or whenever it was that I bit the dust, it doesn't matter.” Hades looked slightly appalled, and Nico realized that his passion-driven profanity was probably really impolite to say in the presence of a god. Was it sacrilege or something? In the last few years he had repaired his relationship with his father more than he had ever hoped to, but he wasn't eager to push it so he tried to clean it up and regain some kind of formality at the end. “So thank you, my lord, for your gracious offers, but I have to decline. I do have a favor I would like to ask for instead though. I will try to keep it within your laws."

Hades, still frozen, managed to look scandalized, angry, and a little proud all at once. Eventually he snorted, shook his head like he was disappointed in himself for ever expecting anything else, and slouched casually back in his throne. "Well?" He prompted. 

"U-um," Nico began, surprised by the sudden compliance, "well I need... a head start?" He bit his lip -- he was pretty sure Hades couldn't do it, but it couldn’t hurt to ask. And just as he expected, Hades looked at him incredulously. 

"A _head start_?"

"Yeah. I just need some time without monsters on my a--um, without monsters chasing me and trying to keep me in the Underworld. I know this place well, I know how to get out, but it's gonna be a lot harder with the Furies trying to keep me in." Hades was looking frustrated, and a little sad again, before Nico even finished. 

"Nico I _can't_. You must understand this. I cannot support this in any way. The best I can do is act as though you've told me nothing of you plan and wait for them to find you themselves - which, mind you, will be quickly. I cannot actively prevent the security measures from hindering you, or willingly grant you a safer passage, or anything else that could be interpreted as an act of support for my own son to cheat death." 

"But you do support it." Nico guessed, the hint of a smile pulling at his mouth. 

Hades acted as though Nico hadn't spoken at all, which made him smile just a tiny bit more. "My answer is no.” 

“Just give me fifteen minutes. Please, father. Give me fifteen minutes to get out of the palace and then I promise I’ll vanish and if you’re asked you will not be lying when you say you don’t know where I am or how I got out.”

Hades deliberated for a moment. “You must be very careful. Guards will not bother you inside the walls, all those in my guard are aware of your current free status and they will not question you anywhere you go. I cannot promise the same for any being down here that notices you trying to escape the Underworld altogether. Also,” he paused as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue, but did so anyway, somewhat more carefully, “you have established a stable position for yourself as my ambassador. If you intend to continue working this way, you will need to be very careful when returning to the Underworld. You will likely be a fugitive in my domain for months. And… if you wish for this position to continue including semi-regular visits with me… I would recommend waiting at least a year before attempting contact, and then being incredibly careful about it.”

“Y-yes lord.” Nico stammered. He was stunned. Again. Here was his father, god of the _Underworld_ , offering to risk retribution for allowing his son to break his own laws so that the two of them could remain in contact. Not only was this a better deal than most kids got from their far cuddlier godly parents, but Hades was actually endangering himself for the sake of seeing Nico. How was he even supposed to respond to that?

Hades, apparently having decided that three times was enough in one day to be sentimental, straightened up, shook his hair out of his haunted face, cleared his throat, and generally pulled himself together. It was all a very nice display of cavelier disinterest, but all Nico saw was his dad trying to pretend he was aloof and scary again after admitting more than once that he might actually care a lot about Nico after all, and a smile started pulling again at his hollowed ghostly cheeks. “I will be in the throne room for the next fifteen minutes. I suggest you hurry. Begone.”

Nico nodded. “Thank you, father.” He bowed low before standing and sprinting back inside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one came a tad bit late, sorry, but I hope I can make up for it with the length. Also, this story is turning out to be a lot more about character development that I wanted to see from the books but knew there wasn't time for and a lot less action-y, so sorry about that, I hope y'all like it anyway. 
> 
> And since this chapter is sort of the turning point of the story and the epitome of the song, Nico is literally crawling home to Will, I repeated the lines from the other two chapters to make the full chorus
> 
> Still don't have a beta, if anyone sees any mistakes it would be cool if you let me know because I literally skimmed this once for mistakes, I was just itching to post it since it was so late. Oops.

_When my time comes around_  
_Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth_  
 _No grave could hold my body down_  
 _I'll crawl home to her_

. . .

_A couple days passed and Will went back to his responsibilities. What could he do? Life went on and he had campers to heal, but he was bitter and miserable and moody, equally too passionate and dangerously distant, switching between refusing to let anyone else die even when almost nothing was wrong, and staring dejectedly at everything, more a risk to his patients than anything else. Everyone was supportive, his siblings took extra shifts at the infirmary when he wasn't feeling up to it, they all knew exactly what it felt like to lose someone. And Will appreciated it, really, but it didn't make anything better. He could hardly enjoy anything anymore. The sun rose and set in the same dazzling rainbow as always, but he didn't see it, not without Nico there to see it with him. Hazel and Reyna stayed with him the first day, felt Nico’s death just as strongly as Will had, but being with them felt worse. He knew how much Nico’s death crushed them, he knew rationally that they were in equal pain, but he wanted to yell that he was worse. He knew how many campers had lost someone and understood but he wanted to scream that no one had ever felt this pain. He felt guilty about it, but he and Nico had been dating for three years, they had been best friends since they were fourteen, Will had been in love with him since he saw him as a scrawny twelve year old leading an army against Kronos. They were going to go to New Rome together in the fall to go to college. Nico had been his first kiss, his first time, his first love. Nico was his everything, and Will hadn’t been good enough to save him and now he was just gone. How could anyone understand?_

* * *

Nico dashed through halls and skidded around corners, desperate to get to the cavernous library as quickly as possible. He had an idea for how to escape but he needed to double check a few things before he committed to his plan and he only had fifteen minutes to find the information he needed and get out. Fortunately, he knew the library like the back of his hand. It was easily his favorite place in the palace and he had spent so much time there over the years, learning everything he could about his father’s domain, that it took no time at all to find the section he was looking for. It wasn't like Hades’ library had a big section with a glowing sign that read “How to Escape the Underworld” or anything like that, but it was just a matter of bursting through the gilded double doors, making a left turn, running down three aisles, taking one more left and then a right before Nico stood panting in front of a small ledger detailing the events of Orpheus’ visit to the Underworld. He figured it was the best escape route for his purposes -- normally, if he wasn't shadow travelling, he would just walk right out the front and catch a ride back with Charon or go through a passage his father opened up for him, but he wasn't sure that he could shadow travel in this state and wasn't eager to risk the consequences, and, now that he was dead, the other two options were both off the table. He was familiar with the Doors of Orpheus though, had used them before and knew exactly how to get to them, and they were relatively close to the palace walls. The Doors also led out into New York, which was much closer to camp than walking out in, say, Los Angeles. There weren't a lot of other ways out of the Underworld that didn't involve someone on the outside or permission from Hades, and Nico had neither of those things. So he was mostly confident about his game plan, except for one thing: he wasn't sure he didn't need someone outside for this either. Sure, he had used them before, but that was from the mortal world, and he had no idea if they would open from the inside.

Unfortunately, the ledger was no help. Whatever record keeper Hades had way back in the day was crap. Frustrated, he jammed the ledger back into its spot and jogged over to the section of mortal accounts of myths related to the Underworld. There was a bit more on Orpheus here, but Nico still found nothing useful in the mortal mythology texts, placing them back and picking up the next one after half a minute of frenzied skimming. He already knew the legend, had read it a dozen times over the years, and he didn't much care about it at the moment, he just needed to know how the damn Doors worked. When he had finally exhausted the last book, the most helpful information he had was that Orpheus’ music was to appease and distract the guardians of the Underworld. That could probably happen from the inside, right? It didn't really matter much, he was out of time. Not that it really existed in the Underworld, but Nico had gotten good at judging about how much time had passed amidst the murky timelessness of the Underworld. It was hard to describe, but he figured he had about five minutes to get the hell out of… well… Hell. Or Hell’s palace at least. He checked that his sword was hanging at his side and when he saw it he almost thanked the gods for their existence and their culture that buried weapons with fallen warriors and allowed for them to be carried over into the afterlife before he realized that he probably didn’t want to be talking to anyone right now, especially not the gods. Nico was more solid than most spirits thanks to his godly parentage, but his sword was back in its realm, its birthplace, and it almost glowed with an aura of power. Nico felt an instinctual prickle of fear as a ghost looking upon a Stygian iron blade, and he felt even more respect for his trusty weapon. He had never felt its aura as an intended victim before and damn his sword was cool. He shook himself out of his geek out and made his way casually down the main hall of the palace. He smirked to himself when he passed his father’s empty throne, deciding to never again gripe about being sent on a mission for him at 2am. Hades definitely had his moments.

The skeletal guards at the front doors bowed to him as they opened the grand front gates and he nodded at them, trying to look like a bored prince of the Underworld who had just been appointed to like six prestigious positions like it was no big deal.

_I’m Nico di Angelo, son and lieutenant of Hades, just leaving home real quick to battle some monsters and do some other totally legit Lieutenant of Hades business, nobody mind me._ Yep. Nailed it. He wondered briefly if he should take a pomegranate on his way out since only the dead would eat them, but then he figured that would be trying way too hard to look innocent and dead.

_And what would I even do with it? I'm obviously not going to eat it, would I just drop it somewhere? That’s practically leaving breadcrumbs. Genius move, ‘Lieutenant’._

His nerves were shot as he stepped out of the palace walls. He was officially on his own. He tried to play it down, swinging his sword nonchalantly and attempting to slow down his sweeping search for danger, make it look like he was just looking for something to fight. In reality he wasn't all that worried about finding monsters, he could take them out no problem, but they would slow him down and if they were going to attack him he really didn't want them to surprise him. What he was actually worried about were the Furies. They _really_ didn't like kids who disobeyed or betrayed their parents. Nico did not want to have to act natural to a questioning Fury because, quite frankly, he was never a good actor and tortured insanity and general damnation, courtesy of an angry Fury, did not sound like a good time to him. He tried to shake the thought from his head. Why would something catch him? He had been training here since he was eleven. He had been to every corner of the Underworld dozens of times, there was hardly a soul in his father’s domain that would question him. So long as he acted natural. He spent a decent chunk of time meandering about, kicking up dust with his ghostly boots and looking bored. It took him longer than it should have because he kept veering off track to make it look like aimless wandering, but finally he reached the bank of the River Styx where it rushed out from the rocks of a cliff face. Turning to face the river as though watching the rapids was the only reason he came, he took a deep breath and, still not knowing if it would even work, began to sing.

The song he sang was very old, an Italian lullaby his mother used to sing to him. He remembered that very vaguely, but after she died and he and his sister were left on their own, Bianca used to sing it to him. He blinked his misty eyes and tried not to think too much about that, to focus instead on singing soft and low to open the door. He stumbled over a verse he had nearly forgotten and, a little ashamed, sang the next lines a little louder and soon, like a miracle that shouldn't have existed in the hopeless realm he had found himself in, the cliff began to rumble and chunks of rock next to Nico fell away to reveal a narrow set of steps. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open just slightly, a little disbelieving that it had actually worked, but he didn't allow himself any time to stand and wonder at the dark tunnel before him. Instead, he took a shaky breath and plunged in, not daring to look around first for fear of looking suspicious. The downside of this was that he had no idea if anything was around him or saw him disappear into a tunnel next to the Styx, so now he would have to worry about being followed the whole way up. That was the funny thing about the Underworld -- everything seemed to be a lose-lose situation.

The tunnel was narrow and slightly damp, the only light coming from the Underworld behind him, and based on how dim it was he couldn't figure it was going to last him very long inside. It wasn't exactly going to be a cozy ride up. Predictably, the light ran out way too quickly, leaving him engulfed in pitch darkness, edging slowly up the steep steps for fear of slipping and falling down them. With no light to see anything, Nico was walking blind, the only company being the sound of his stumbling footsteps and harsh breathing echoing off the close walls. ‘Not cozy’ didn’t even being to cover it. He remembered how long this staircase was from the last time and, despite how much his claustrophobia had improved in the years since the jar, he was beginning to worry about how he was going to hold up after another hour of this. The length wasn't the only thing he remembered from his last time in this tunnel -- the longer he walked the more he couldn’t help but remember the last time he was here, when he was leading Percy Jackson down this tunnel to a trap his father had coerced him into being a part of. He remembered how conflicted he felt and how miserable he was, and feeling like he had never been more nervous in his life, the burning tension under his skin making his stomach turn and his head hurt.

He wondered idly which time was worse -- leading his crush into a trap and secretly hoping to gain respect, at the very least, for giving him invulnerability, or trying to break out of the Underworld to continue living his life with his friends and with Will. Somewhat surprised, he realized he didn't have to think about it much at all. This time was unquestionably worse. Sure, last time it wasn't just about Percy, he had felt guilty about leading him into a trap, eager to please his father, and anxious to learn about his mother, but it was largely about Percy, and trying to cheat death was way more nerve wracking. He supposed he shouldn't be so surprised, it had been a very very long time since he had thought of Percy that way, but that was at a time in his life when he didn't know that anything could be more important to him than Percy was, even though he hated himself for it. Thinking about it like that, he was impressed at how far he had come. It had been five or six years since the last time he was walking down these steps and the gods knew a lot had happened since then, but he let himself feel proud of his progress for a moment.

The only problem with that was he immediately wanted to share it with Will. That was the difference between loving Percy and loving Will -- he didn’t necessarily need Will all the time to make progress or to feel good, but he was so happy with him all the time that even when he did things on his own he instantly wanted to share them with Will, he knew Will would be happy for him and proud of him. Nico hadn't actually thought about it in a long time, but the comparison was almost ridiculous -- with Percy he hadn't felt a single damn thing the whole time that made him feel good, with Will his entire relationship was so full of happiness and love it made him dizzy to think about sometimes. Now was one of those times. Thinking about Will hurt right now, he only ended up thinking about how he had left him and the pain Will had to be in right now and it added to the stress and nerves that was tensing up his whole body and putting knots in his back and a crick in his neck. The longer he walked the more nervous he felt. There were still way too many things that could go wrong and the further up he went the more sure he was that something would, and he couldn't get over the overwhelming itch to look over his shoulder, even though he knew he wouldn't actually be able to see anything, but he refused to give in to it. Maybe it was because he had just read all about Orpheus and his failed escape, but looking back felt like a bad omen and he didn't dare do it.

Even more time went on and Nico had officially lost all ability to discern how long he had been climbing in any terms clearer than _fucking forever_. He wished he could hum or talk or do anything to break the oppressive silence that grated on his nerves and amped up his mounting claustrophobia, but he wasn't sure that someone at the end he came from wouldn't be able to hear him and he was in no hurry to give away his position if he wasn't being followed. He was sure by now that his absence had been noticed downstairs, and that wasn't helping his mounting stress. Also not helping were his burning legs and aching feet. Seriously, he hadn't had to climb up this thing last time and it was _miserable_. He had never felt out of shape really, but now he was convinced that he could taste his own blood and he was pretty sure climbing stairs for hours should be included in the camp training routine because, if he didn't die of exhaustion as soon as he made it out of this thing, he was pretty sure he was going to have the strongest legs at camp. Gradually, it began to feel like the tunnel was opening up. Not exactly opening physically, but he could breathe better and he thought he even felt a light breeze at one point. He still couldn't see much, though straight ahead seemed to be slightly lighter, so he figured it was probably some time at night in the mortal world. This close to the end, Nico was getting to his breaking point. He was so close he could literally taste it, the fresh air sweet on his tongue but only serving to cloud his brain more as it provided a stark contrast to the fear and anxiety about his escape that clung to him like the sweat that drenched his back. He could feel himself getting solid again, almost entirely a full living person again and, like a weird sense of deja-vu, he could feel a soul, his soul, leaving the Underworld. It was all too much, the air and physical solidity and the feeling only he, as a child of Hades, would have of the wrongness of someone coming back from the dead, that all pointed to the success of his escape and after what was probably hours of grueling physical effort and emotional turmoil he wasn't sure he could handle it. He wanted to be out so bad and it was all coming together to be an aggressive conflict of sensations and emotions and he felt stronger than ever that if anything was going to go wrong it would right now.

And then it all stopped.

He found himself emerging from a clump of rocks in Central Park, the sounds of the city faint around him and the cold moon shedding light on the clearing he stood at the center of. Behind him he heard a rumbling and he turned around just in time to see the boulders shudder and tumble back into place over the hole he had just walked out of. Shocked, speechless and gasping for breath he sank to the ground on shaking legs. It was over. He made it out. He looked at himself as best he could in the dim light but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary; he pinched his arm and laughed breathlessly when it hurt. Hands shaking, he took his pulse.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

It was there beating away steadily beneath his skin. He was alive. He was about to heartily pat himself on the back for breaking out of the Underworld in what could very well have been a record time, when it occurred to him that he had no idea how he was going to get back to camp. He hadn't thought about it at all on the way out the passage, having been a little preoccupied, but now he was beginning to feel panicked again. How had he not even considered this? Here he was, alone, stranded in a huge park he wasn't at all familiar with in a city he wouldn't have needed both hands to count the number of times he had actually visited, with no money, mortal or otherwise, no phone, no food or water, and no _way_ he was going to try to use his powers. He had literally just came back from the dead, he doubted he was in any condition to try anything Underworld-y, he probably had a whole bunch of Underworld darkness type stuff boiling around in him for right now. He knew from experience that that could happen and like hell he was going to risk going back. That just put him in a really difficult situation -- by the way the sky was turning a dusty gray at the edges he figured it was early morning, maybe four or five, and soon mounted police officers were going to come through and he really didn't want to have to try to explain himself. No matter how he managed to get back, he figured it probably wasn’t going to be too squeaky clean, morally. At the very least, he would probably have to steal some food from somewhere. If he ever found out how to get out of this fucking park. He hadn't come here for almost six years and it wasn't the middle of the night then, either. Looking around he didn't notice a single landmark he recognized but those damn rocks.

Shit. With no sense of direction and no ideas, not to mention a newly living body that would probably need feeding soon, he was stranded.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys! The final chapter and I would like to take this time to formally apologize for its lateness. Hopefully the length will make it up to you? Idk stuff was happening and I am suuuper sorry. But it's here now! This fic has been really fun to write, even though it didn't quite go where I thought it was going to, and y'all have been super nice about it, seriously I love the response this has been getting. ESPECIALLY TTHRU. Tthru is super great, A++, and unquestionably the real mvp here. Thanks for everything!
> 
> Seeing as this is the final chapter, the culmination of all that went down, this chapter gets the full last verse of the song.
> 
> Unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine. Enjoy!

_My babe would never fret none_  
About what my hands and my body done  
If the Lord don't forgive me  
I'd still have my baby and my babe would have me  
When I was kissin' on my baby  
And she put her love down soft and sweet  
In the low lamp light I was free  
Heaven and Hell were words to me 

. . . 

_Someone was pounding on the door of cabin seven, the sound jolting Will out of his nightmares. His sleep had been light and fitful, full of painful images of the last time he saw Nico, his sheets were kicked half on the floor, but whoever was knocking must have been at it for a little while because Will noticed some of his siblings turning in their sleep, trying to block the sound. A few others had even woken up, two or three campers looking to Will, confused. He waved them away and tried to look reassuring, mumbling for them to go back to sleep as he heaved himself out of bed and shuffled towards the door. When he opened it he was woken up pretty quick by a fist flying towards his face before the attacker realized the door had finally been opened._

_“Woah, Jesus!” Will yelled and dodged just as a female voice cried “Oh my gods I'm so sorry! Are you okay?”_

_Will blinked down at Hazel’s worried face. “Hazel? What are you doing here? It’s-” he looked over his shoulder at the clock on the wall and groaned, “4:26 in the morning. Are you okay?” He added after a pause when he noticed that she was shaking, and it wasn't cold out at all._

_“I’m fine. I'm sorry Will, but this is important. Nico’s alive.” Will stumbled back, all the air leaving his lungs like she had punched him, but she didn’t give him any more time to react before rambling on, “I woke up just a few minutes ago because I felt it. It’s hard to describe, but I can feel souls entering the Underworld if I focus, but someone leaving the Underworld should not be able to happen at all. It felt so wrong it woke me up. And it’s him. I know it is.”_

_“How… where… what do we do?”_

_“I don’t know. I don't know where he is or how to find him but he’s alive, we should be able to just… ask.”_

_“What, like Iris-Message him?” Will gestured with his hands, agitated, a habit he had picked up from Nico. “Hazel, it’s 4:30 in the morning! Where are we getting light for a rainbow? No, wait, come with me.” He grabbed a few drachma, pulled the door closed behind him, and sprinted off across the green, heading for one of the side wings of cabins. They soon reached the Iris cabin, a white stone building inlaid with thousands of opals and fire agate that would shine in a rainbow of colors in the sunlight. Whispering sorry to a sleeping Butch, he eased the door open and slipped inside._

_Butch only had a few siblings, but he was very protective of them and very protective of his space and his sleep, so Will tried to lead Hazel as quietly as possible into a closet-sized side room. She gasped as he eased the door shut behind them: they were standing in a brightly light room where a perfect rainbow set-up was going all around the clock. A UV lamp and half a dozen glittering prisms were set up in perfect position against a spray of water from a fountain carved to look like a column of clouds. That, and probably a little help from the rainbow goddess herself, resulted in stunning rainbows, bigger than should be possible, fanning out in multiple directions and almost weaving together for a multicolored canvas and a perfect Iris-Message space._

_“Most cabins have their own fountains for Iris-Messaging, but the Iris cabin’s goes 24/7 and they have the best service. If you bring your own drachma and ask Butch nicely he'll usually let you use it.” Will explained to Hazel in a whisper. Then he took a deep breath, threw one of his drachma in the screen of rainbows, and was interrupted by Hazel._

_“O Fleecy, do me a solid.” She looked at him sheepishly as he raised an eyebrow, but then he shrugged and gestured for her to continue. “Show me Nico di Angelo.”_

_The picture that appeared in the rainbow was dark, but they could just make out the upper body of a boy clad in dark clothes and a head of long dark hair facing the other direction._

_Will’s breath caught in his throat._

_“Nico?”_

* * *

“Nico?”

Nico’s heart stopped and he whirled around. He would know that voice anywhere, and he had just enough time to think the name before he found himself facing its owner.

Will. And Hazel, standing next to him and providing what would always be a hilarious height difference, but Nico wasn't laughing now. His breath was caught in his throat even before he saw the look in their eyes and he suddenly found himself blinking a lot.

He swallowed around the lump in his throat and managed to stutter “W-Will. Hazel. Hi. How did you guys…?” But he trailed off as he realized he knew the answer. Hazel was also a child of the Underworld, she had to have felt the same thing he did when he walked out of the tunnel.

“I just felt it.” She said, confirming his suspicion. “Where are you? When will you be here? Do you need us to come get you?” 

Nico swallowed again and tore his eyes off her and Will to look around, laughing weakly. “Uh, I don't actually know where I am. I mean I’m in Central Park, but I don't know… where. Some clearing? It looks like pretty dense forest around me. I would shadow travel out but I just got, um, back, and I don't know how well that would go.”

“Good, don’t.” Will was talking as soon as Nico stopped, looking frantic. “Just stay where you are, we will find you. I promise.”

“Okay. Could you maybe bring a snack, too?” He added sheepishly.

Will snorted but he couldn't keep the grin off his face. “Yeah, we can probably make that happen.”

“Thanks.” And then there was nothing left to say. They all stared at one another with misty eyes, trying to think of something to say to warrant the message to stay up, but they all know they had to go -- Central Park was really big and all they had to go on was ‘a clearing surrounded by trees’. Will and Hazel had work to do.

Nico cleared his throat. There was so much he wanted to say but he knew they needed to get going if they were going to find him in this lifetime, and it didn't really feel right to say it through an Iris-Message anyway. “Okay. I'll see you guys soon.” 

They nodded and with a shaky hand he swiped through their connection.

He sank to the ground once more, breathing heavily. It all felt real now. He had made it back from the dead, he was alive, the two most important people to him knew it and they were coming to get him. All he had to do was stay put. He made it. 

The sky lightened as it neared five and Nico surveyed his surroundings in the new lighting. It wasn't much help -- he couldn't see any landmarks or anything at all to help Will and Hazel find him. Not that it would help if he did, considering he didn't have any money and thus he didn’t have any way to tell them his findings, he just wished he could be more useful. He figured he might make a fire a little later, but for right now everything was still coated in dew and he doubted it would burn. In the meantime, he found a large stick near the edge of the clearing, really more of a small branch, and carved a huge “SOS” into the ground. Will so was not going to think that was funny, Nico couldn't wait to see his stupid unamused face. The sun rose steadily higher and Nico tried unsuccessfully to make a fire. He ignored his rumbling stomach in favor of his probably eighth attempt at a fire, picking up a new stick and piece of wood he cut off a cypress tree that he had left to dry out in the sun for the last however many hours. Finally, after tirelessly scraping the wood together over a pile of tinder and blowing, he got a small fire going close to the center of the clearing. Almost falling over himself in relief, he wiped the sweat off his face and stepped back, occasionally throwing on some more dried twigs to grow the fire until he deemed it big enough and began adding leaves to thicken the smoke. 

Satisfied with his contribution to the search, he sat down away from the heat and waited.

Sooner than he would have thought possible, a shimmering chariot pulled by beautiful pegasi swept into the clearing, cantering gracefully down from the sky, carrying in it Will and Hazel, alive and here to bring Nico home. Too many emotioning were tumbling around in his chest -- happiness, excitement, disbelief, love, relief, guilt, regret -- he thought he was going to burst. Before the chariot had fully stopped moving Will and Hazel jumped out and ran at him. He flung himself into their arms, stuttering out apologies. 

Hazel stepped back and smiled at him, blinking tears out of her eyes, but only for a moment before Will pulled Nico to him once more, holding him against his shaking chest and kissing him like, well, like he had come back from the dead.

“Gods, Nico, I…” he took a deep breath and pressed his face into Nico’s hair. Nico gripped him tight and choked back a sob, pushing his tear-wet face into Will’s warm neck. 

“I'm so sorry. I never meant for… I didn’t… I’m sorry. How… how long has it been?” He didn’t know if now was really the right time to ask, but he had to know. He wasn't sure what day it was, and he couldn't actually remember what the date was when they left for that godforsaken mission, let alone what it was a few days later when they actually reached the place, and he had to know how long he left Will alone.

“Four days. They called it at 7pm on Wednesday, so I guess four and a half now. Hazel, Reyna, Frank, Jason, Percy, and Annabeth came back from Camp Jupiter early Thursday for your- your funeral. They have stayed the last couple days.” He laughed then, an odd sound that was bitter, humorless, and relieved all at once and that Nico never wanted to hear him make again, “They were actually supposed to leave today, you have nice timing.”

Nico pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you are Nico, and I never blamed you for a second.” Will tried to give a reassuring smile, like he always did in times of trouble, putting his emotions behind a strong face to support those around him, but it didn't quite work this time, didn't even begin to cover the hesitant relief and fear in his eyes like he was afraid Nico would disappear again.

Tears welled again in Nico’s eyes and he squeezed Will’s hand. “Thank you.”

Will pulled him into a bone crushing embrace once more, muffled a sob in his hair. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Nico squeezed his eyes shut and let it happen for a few moments too long before he began pulling away. “We should maybe get going-”

He was interrupted by Hazel pulling him into another hug and he laughed weakly, burying his nose in her wild hair. “And you. I missed you so much.”  
She pulled away after a moment, sniffing and fanning her watering eyes. “Yeah okay now we should go.”

“But first!” Will declared dramatically. Nico rolled his eyes as his dorky boyfriend turned around to get something from the chariot. When he turned back Nico immediately dropped his snark, eyes widening at the two red boxes Will held in his hands.

“For you.”

“Oh my gods you are my hero.” He ripped the Happy Meals from Will’s hands and dug in, ignoring Hazel’s laughter and Will’s self-satisfied “I know”. 

When he finished pigging out, they climbed into the chariot and once it cleared the tops of the trees they began swapping stories.

“How did you guys find me so fast?” The sun was reasonably high in the sky, it had no doubt been a few hours at least, but still, “It wasn't like I gave you precise directions and Central Park is huge.” He looked out at the park stretching forever in both ways, not realizing how big it actually was until he saw it from the top.

Will snorted and grinned at Nico from where he was standing with the reins, “Yeah, we know. When we got here we just sort of aimlessly flew around as close to the trees as possible. Hazel was gonna get Arion and try on foot soon because seriously, we could not even begin to guess where you were. But then we saw smoke coming out above the trees so we figured it might be you. By the way, nice job with the smoke signals Sacajawea.”

Nico looked at him, confused, so he continued, “Oh, I'm sorry, was she after your time?”

“Hey come on, the 20’s weren't that long ago!” Hazel protested.

“Yeah, way to insult my sister. And no you idiot, but first of all, I wasn't really sending smoke signals, and second of all, what the hell does Sacajawea have to do with smoke signals?”

“A lot! Native Americans used smoke signals!” 

“Yep, and she was the only Native American.”

“Shut up, di Angelo. Also, nice ‘SOS’, real funny.”

Nico smirked, decided that meant he won, but he was secretly pleased that his fire had helped. He looked up and schooled his features when he saw Hazel looking at the two of them with a soft smile. She quirked an eyebrow, not believing his casual look for a second, and he stuck his tongue out at her.

“How did you get out? Did Dad just let you go?” She asked.

He shook his head, a private smile playing around his lips. Yeah, kinda. “No, you know him, he would never just put me back on the surface with a pat on the back and a packed lunch. I opened the Doors of Orpheus and snuck out. But,” he lowered his voice so it could only just be heard over the wind, “he totally let it happen. He actually offered me a spot in his guard and everything, all but appointed me new king of the Underworld, but I sorta flipped out about how I wasn't staying and he had to bring me back. He got pissed and said he couldn't, but I told him I was going anyway. I asked for a head start and he was a little shocked but he went along with it and pretended he barely knew I was here for just long enough for me to get out.”

Will whistled, low and impressed. “Damn, di Angelo I always knew you had balls but this is impressive, even for you.”

Nico smirked. “I know you knew that.”

Hazel shuddered, the awed expression falling off her face in favor of absolute disgust. “Ugh. I'm just going to walk off the chariot if that’s okay with you.”

Laughing, Nico apologized. They talked and laughed and caught up the whole way back to camp. There wasn't a lot that had happened since Nico left, but they were all so happy to be with one another again it felt like they could talk for days without running out of things to say.

Their entrance into Camp Half-Blood wasn't supposed to be all that grand, they were just going to land near the stables and get the pegasi out of the harnesses and then go find Chiron, but as they swooped lower over the camp someone saw them and pointed, yelling something to the surrounding campers, who all rushed off in different directions, yelling things at one another and disappearing into various cabins, which confused Nico until he saw what they were doing. They were pulling people out of cabins -- specifically, cabins like Zeus and Poseidon -- and appearing from the woods with campers who would be identifiable from any height. By the time they landed, half the camp seemed to be waiting for them, and Nico was pulled out immediately and crushed by the seven campers in the front.

Reyna had him first, holding him tight and whispering in Spanish in a way that reminded him so much of Bianca, except he could understand Italian and he had no idea what Reyna was saying to him, but he could barely register that before he was being passed to Jason, to Percy, to Annabeth and Piper and even Frank and Leo who he didn't think had ever hugged him before in his life. He supposed this was a special circumstance, though. 

Leo was the first to speak after they all let him go.

“Dude. Come on. Way to show me up, I was supposed to be the only one with the cool dramatic return from the dead.”

About six people slapped him at once, though, so it was easily worth it. And besides, Nico hadn't seen Leo in a while. He lived at Camp Half-Blood usually but had been travelling for the last couple months, as he and Calypso were prone to do a few times a year, but his annoying comments felt so right and normal to Nico that he was afraid he might cry -- he was really back. It was over. But first, a few words.

The whole camp had to be there by now, and Nico had some things to say.

“So, um, hey guys. I sorta wanted to apologize. For getting myself killed, for one thing, but also for coming back like this. It sort of makes me a huge hypocrite, and I know everyone here has lost someone and it’s not fair that I came back and they didn't, and I'm sorry.”

Will was standing right behind him glaring at the crowd like he was daring someone to have a problem with Nico’s return, but no one looked angry. Most people actually seemed confused, and there were a few moments of silence before someone snorted.

“Dude.” Travis Stoll spoke up from somewhere near the front. “Like we would actually be pissed that you're not dead anymore.”

Next to him, Connor was nodding. “Like you said man, everyone has lost someone. There is literally no situation where one less dead camper is bad.”

There were various nods and murmurs of agreement around the crowd and Nico found himself smiling weakly. Sure, as praise goes “I'm glad you're not dead” isn't the most heart-warming, but still, he knew what they meant, and to have such widespread agreement from a place where just five years ago he never thought he would fit in was gonna leave him misty-eyed if he let himself think about it for too long. 

“Thanks guys.”

Chiron trotted around from where he stood in the back and announced that chores and activities should be resumed as usual and celebration may resume later on. The campers broke up and wandered off to whatever they were doing before an undead camper flew down from the sky in a glittering pegasi-pulled chariot, but nine campers stayed behind. The ten of them just wandered the rest of the day, joking around and hanging out in a way they hadn't done much recently, what with about half of the group living on the other side of the country. That night after dinner the Stolls threw a party on the beach to celebrate Nico’s return, and Nico actually went to it. He didn't stay long, but he appreciated the thought, even though the Stolls threw parties for everything, and he actually had fun. It was sort of the best day ever, which was probably ironic considering he had just died, but maybe not -- if any day is going to be the best, coming back from the dead seems like a strong candidate.

But the very best part of the day was after he left the party. He had been having a good time all day, but he had secretly been waiting for this. To curl up in his bed in the Hades cabin with Will, pressed together as close as possible, speaking softly. Apparently Hazel had been staying in the Big House with Reyna since Reyna didn't have a cabin at camp and Hazel couldn't bear to sleep alone in the Hades cabin, but she knew Nico well and, even though she no longer had to, she stayed there again tonight, giving her brother privacy. So Nico and Will lay in bed, Nico pressed against Will’s chest and Will running his fingers softly through Nico’s hair. 

“I’m sorry.” Nico said, for what had to be the dozenth time that night.

Will pressed his lips to Nico’s forehead. “You don't have to keep apologizing, you know that, right? You're here now, and it’s all okay.”

“I know, but…” Nico honestly wanted to enjoy being here with Will, he didn't want to push any bad memories into an otherwise perfect night, but he couldn't stop feeling like he had a lot to apologize for, no matter what Will said. “I left you. I wasn't careful enough and I got myself really fucked up and I left you and I’m sorry.”

Will took a shuddering breath, blowing Nico’s hair across his face as he exhaled. “I know. But you saved them. They made it back okay. They were all claimed, actually. A daughter of Nemesis, a daughter of Iris, a son of Hecate, and a son of Demeter. They aren't really gonna be fighters, even with training. They needed you and you saved them, and that makes you a hero. You shouldn't be apologizing.”

Nico knew he was right but he also noticed that Will never really mentioned that Nico had left him. He turned his body so that he was looking Will right in the eyes and told him, “I'm never leaving you again.”

Even in the dark, Will’s light eyes gave away all of his emotions. They were wide and watery and scared. He didn’t frequently drop his casual or confident air, but he did now. “Promise?”

And sure, Nico knew that life as a demigod was dangerous and that maybe he should be worried, but he wasn’t. He had never felt more sure of anything than he did when he answered.

“Promise.”


End file.
